Event recap · GBI Forum
Silicon Valley
March 18, 2026
Shenzhen Bay Innovation Center, Silicon Valley
AI in the enterprise, U.S. retail site selection, going offline, and brand storytelling — with operators from Google, McKinsey, Cisco, WhatsApp, NIO and Stanford.
19
Speakers
3
Panels
2
Keynotes
Programme
On stage.
- Keynote
Practical pathways to educational equity and community collaboration
Yunbo Gu
Chairman & CEO, Silicon Valley Cultural Association
College Board and CSIET member; guides students into STEM and AI careers.
- Panel · 01
AI in the enterprise: transforming how businesses operate and compete
Joseph G. Rios, PhDModerator
Founder & CEO, Dakodit
Stanford PhD; led AI learning tools at Google and programs at Columbia Business School.
Ken Chester Jr
CEO, Anthropilot
Serial founder (AI robotics, agentic commerce); Cornell I-Corps.
Alexander Sukhanov
Co-Founder, FastshotAI (YC F25)
Former infrastructure architect at Cisco Meraki.
Akash Mahajan
Senior Analyst, McKinsey & Company
UC Berkeley design innovation; AI and design strategy.
Donald Cheng
Founder, Mosaic Technologies
Led a $575M+ supply-chain transformation at Applied Materials.
Yulia Stepanova
Technical Product Specialist, WhatsApp
15 years across Facebook, Google Photos and Apple.
- Keynote
Site selection & expansion strategies for retail brands entering the U.S.
Scott Lifschultz
Founder, Evolve Retail Advisors
30+ years in retail real estate; former Head of U.S. Real Estate at NIO. Clients include MIXUE, Equinox and CVS.
- Panel · 02
Key decisions & a survival playbook for global brands going offline in America
Elsie WangModerator
Co-Founder, Hibee
Kathy Wang
CEO, Broadar
Four-time MIT Reality Hackathon champion; Red Dot, iF and SXSW award winner.
Sophia (Fei) Wang
Head of Marketing & Strategy, Stealth Startup
18 years of global marketing at Thermo Fisher, PerkinElmer and Danaher.
Woody Hu
Business Director, IntelliPro
A decade of executive search in consumer.
Sarah Shan
Regional Operations Manager, TARANIS
Milly Cheung
Director, Lee & Associates
- Panel · 03
Brand storytelling, IP synergies & new growth engines
Viola ShuModerator
Financial Literacy Educator
Former senior UX researcher at Kuaishou.
Allen Yang
Founder & CEO, Red Harp Union
Go-to-market for Anker, Dreame and Amazfit; founded VIPStore.com.
Rachel Li
Director of Partnerships, East Goes Global
Campaigns with the Dallas Mavericks, Dwyane Wade and IShowSpeed's China tour.
Jonathon
Founder, Topify.ai
Stanford LLM researcher; MetaGPT core contributor.
Frank Huang
Founder & CEO, FÓKAI
Brand development at Hasbro and Universal; market expansion at NIO and Rivian.
Topics covered
- Where to prioritize AI investment when entering the U.S. market
- The gap between an AI demo and a real business case
- Site selection and lease negotiation for a first U.S. store
- When and how online-first brands should move offline
- Building a brand narrative for global audiences
- What celebrity, IP and creator partnerships actually deliver
- How AI agents are reshaping marketing and growth systems
Original recap: gbiworld.org
